Benefits, Concessions and Discounts

Even with these national deals, whilst there will be some
specific organisations mentioned, the emphasis in this section
is on making you aware of the types of things available so that
you can make your own enquiries. It is not comprehensive but
indicative, showing you the areas that you might like to follow
up.

However, make sure you read the conclusion to this article
because we are giving you the chance to contribute to making
this section more specific and therefore even more helpful to
people. We want your contributions, so read on and see how you
can help us.

Once you are 60 you can buy a Senior Citizens’ Rail Card. This will cost £30 (2014/15 rate) but then you get a third off all your rail travel. So if you intend to use the rail network at all regularly, you should get one. If you buy a three-year one on-line it costs £70, so the annual rate is even cheaper. For more details, go to www.senior-railcard.co.uk

If you live in Scotland, FirstGroup run a website called Club55. It provides discounted rail tickets for the over- 55s. If you have a senior rail card, you get an additional discount. The offers are for a limied period only, so have a look at the website when you want to travel to see if there's one available.

You can also get big reductions on rail travel by booking in
advance through the Apex scheme. Basically, this means that if
you book up more than one week in advance it becomes much
cheaper. Go to www.nationalrail.co.uk and type APEX on the search
button. This concession is available to people of all ages but
is very helpful for older people.

You can get either annual or life membership, both of which
enable you to get free entry into the properties. English
Heritage gives discounts for the over-60s for both annual and
life membership. The National Trust gives over-60s discounts for life membership and for Annual Membership if you have been a member for a total of 5 years.

Discounts for older people are very common amongst hotels and
restaurants, both locally and through national chains.

Locally, many pubs will do a ‘Senior Citizens’ lunch’ or have
other similar schemes for older people. Restaurants will provide
discounts at certain times, sometimes providing a limited menu
for these schemes. You need to keep your eyes open for local in
initiatives and always ask if they run such schemes.

Nationally, many of the hotel and restaurant/pub chains run
discount schemes, not necessarily just for older people, but
which are very useful for people of all ages. There are also
some specific schemes for older people. For example, Little Chef
(www.littlechef.co.uk)
do a Finetime card that provides discounts for the over-50s.
There are set times when you can get the discount and you get
the details when you get the card. Ask for one when you go into
a Little Chef.

Next time you are in a hotel, restaurant or pub make sure you
ask if there are any discounts. If it’s one of those that has a
card scheme, get an application form and fill it in. There’s no
harm in having these cards because you never know when they will
come in handy.

Stores such as Boots (http://www.boots.com/en/Over-60s/ ) offer extra benefits for the Over 60s, whilst there are many DIY stores and Garden Centres
that provide discount days
(usually 10%) to the over-60s on certain days.

For example, you can
joing the B&Q Diamond card for 10% off on Wednesdays. The B&Q website is www.diy.com/ .

If you are over 60 and go to Wyevale Garden Centres on a Tuesday, you get double points under their Gardening Club scheme.

Next time you go to a DIY store or garden centre, make sure
that you ask whether they run a similar scheme and start to take
advantage of it.

As an older person, you will sometimes get a discount on
entry to sports events. Football clubs will offer discounts on
tickets and season tickets for older people but very often you
have to be 65 before this applies.

You can play a round of golf a bit cheaper on some courses if
you are over-60 and some golf club membership is cheaper, too.

If you want to become a member of a county cricket club, for
example, you may well get that cheaper. So the key, once again,
is to ask. Whenever you order a ticket for a sporting event,
want to join a club, obtain a season ticket or whatever, make
sure you ask if there are discounts for older people.

We made clear earlier that this is not the forum for strictly
local discounts. However, in general terms, as well as all the
things we have spoken about earlier, you may well find local
age-related discounts in all sorts of outlets if you look and
ask. For example, hairdressers often give older people
reductions and you probably know of many other examples in your
area.

This Guide to Concessions and Discounts is written by Retirement Specialist Dave Sinclair supported by members of the LaterLife team. As well as writing on retirement matters Dave is Training Director at LaterLife and responsible for the content and continuous improvement of LaterLife's Retirement Courses.